Clover - Adopted!

Clover is now around 6 months old and is looking for her forever home! She is sure to bring a smile to your face and complete your family.

Clover’s personality:
Where do we start with this beautiful little firecracker!? Clover is a gorgeous 6 month old, mixed breed female kitten. Her personality will have you in absolute hysterics – from her enthusiastic leaps, incredible climbing ability, the head butts for pats and not to mention her VERY cute face, Clover will certainly be a lively addition to one lucky family. Clover is our very special girl, arriving here after being found at the tip in Cobar - she has had so many adventures already in her short life. Unphased by her rough start to life, Clover is the happiest and most confident kitten we have probably ever had here at Sweet Pea! She takes everything in her stride and is always excited to have human company.

Clover’s ideal forever home:
Due to a medical condition (further information below in her bio), Clover must be an only cat for the remainder of her life, unless strict separation from other cats is possible. She will best suit a home where she has plenty of space to run, climb and play and would especially love a secure outdoor enclosure to spend time in.

Clover’s story:
Clover was found at the tip in Cobar, right in amongst the rubbish when she was estimated to be only a week or two old. Clover's guardian angels must have been looking out for her the day she was found! Our rescue director, Sam made the trip to Sydney to meet the carer who had been looking after her for a week and bought her back for further vet checks at Sweet Pea. At this point, Clover was only a few weeks old and needed close observation to ensure she was healthy and feeding well. After lots of time and care, Clover has grown into a beautiful kitten and is now ready to find her perfect forever home.

Clover’s medical history:
When Clover arrived in our care as a tiny kitten, she had watery eyes and snuffy breathing which developed into nasal discharge. When the treatments that we prescribed failed to fully resolve her symptoms, we sent off a sample to the pathologist for a PCR panel. It returned positive to feline viral rhinotracheitis (FVR), an infectious disease caused by feline herpesvirus type-1 (FHV-1).

As with other herpes viruses, it is very species specific and is only known to cause infections in domestic and wild cats. The typical signs of FVR involve the nose, throat, and eyes, and include sneezing, nasal congestion, conjunctivitis, excessive blinking, squinting, salivation, lethargy, inappetence, and ocular and nasal discharges that range from clear and watery to thick and purulent.

Thankfully, Clover has only ever experienced watery discharge from her eyes, nasal discharge (at times), and the snuffles. We assume that Clover's mum was probably carrying a latent FVR infection, and Clover would have become infected in the weeks following her birth, which can be very serious. Thankfully, our dear little Clover doesn't always have symptoms of the disease, but she does seem to always have the snuffles. So, we have also scoped her airways looking for any other issues and have taken radiographic images of her skull - the x-rays showed a change in her sinuses, which we assume is permanent and caused by the chronic symptoms she experienced as a youngster. This is the likely cause of her snuffles, which are actually very cute when she's sniffing around your ears and face.

Cats with recurrent FVR infections may require treatment with antiviral ophthalmic drops or oral antiviral medications such as famciclovir (Famvir®). We have found that Clover has responded very well to supplementation with L-lysine, an amino acid that helps reduce the severity of the disease as well as decrease the spread of the infection. This is a gel that comes in an easy-to-use tube and is added to her food twice daily. Since using this her symptoms have all but disappeared.

As FVR is very infectious when symptoms are occurring, Clover should be kept as an only cat or could be homed with another cat who also has FVR. A number of cats carry latent FVR and may never show symptoms as an adult cat.

More about Clover:
As the saying goes - ‘good things come in small packages’, and our Clover is no exception! She is bright, inquisitive, playful and has an incredible athletic ability! We are so grateful that Clover came into our lives and that she was able to have a second chance at life – one that she may not have had otherwise. This sweet, confident, charismatic girl is guaranteed to put a smile on your face and will fit in seamlessly as the newest member of your family.

Clover’s adoption fee is $250 - this contributes towards her medical care and food while she has been living with us at Sweet Pea.

Apply to adopt this awesome girl today!